


Whiskey and Books

by Eclectic80



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29279499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eclectic80/pseuds/Eclectic80
Summary: Violet figures out something to contribute to their collective rap sheet.
Relationships: Violet Liu & Arkady Patel
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Whiskey and Books

By the time the sixth round of “Whiskey in the Jar” fades into drunken cacophony, Violet’s throat is made of sand and broken glass. She’s going to sound like a crow tomorrow if she can speak at all, but it’s not the singing that’s done it. The coughing is still held somewhat at bay by the medicine she’s been swigging - she glances at her watch, and there’s time for one more dose in half an hour if she’s going to take another just before they land - and Sana’s moonshine soothes the words of the song.

It’s that she hasn’t laughed so hard in years.

Maybe ever.

Arkady’s invented crimes have escalated from the unlikely to the astounding and accelerated into invention for the future, and Sana’s leaning on her shoulder looking intent and a little too inspired by the latest.

Krejjh is either teaching Brian new swear words in some Dwarnian dialect they’ve never mentioned before or making them up on the fly - Violet can’t tell from Brian’s face which it is. She would join in, just for the malicious mental image of agents attempting to transcribe her mangling of consonants she can’t even hear, let alone reproduce, but her throat makes the attempt ill-advised. Another time, should they survive this.

“So,” says Arkady, in the kind of way that signifies a change of topic, and when Violet looks back at her Sana’s space is empty. Arkady’s leaning forward, elbows propped on knees and eyes fixed on Violet. “Surely a hardened criminal such as yourself can find something more substantial to confess than being a truly excellent singer. Perhaps you were hesitant to brag in front of the captain, but now it’s just us here. I can handle the truth.”

Truth is a slippery thing, Violet is finding. When the truths she’s been raised with are again and again shown to be wrong and her life depends on layers of lies- it’s a good thing this is only a show. Arkady wants a story, and this time Violet is ready to give her one.

So she leans forward, mirroring Arkady’s position. “I read subversive books,” she says, because that’s at least something they might believe of her. 

The corners of Arkady’s eyes crinkle, but her lips are steady. “A dangerous woman indeed,” she says, and she doesn’t have to sound so very sarcastic.

“I mean back in college. Or was it high school? I found a book.” The miniscule flinch is still there at the mention, but Arkady doesn’t say anything this time, just waits. “It had to do with censorship and a society lulled into complacency by being fed a steady diet of sensationalism. I didn’t get all the references, but it was very clear what side we were on.”

“And yet you went on-”

“We’ve been over this before, I didn’t know there were options. But I read the book twice. I can still feel the way the wood-paper pages crumbled at the edges. They were yellow with age, and I couldn’t even guess who wrote the note.”

“A note?” The sarcasm is gone now, and Violet revels a bit in Arkady’s full attention.

“Hand-written, in the back. Asking the reader to pass it on. Clearly it had been circulating for years.”

“So you did?” She smiles.

“Of course I did. You know how I am about letting anyone down. I hid it so the next student could find it.” There was a loose panel just outside one of the music practice rooms - by now surely someone had pried it out.

“Wow, to think it’s been circulating around Harmony College for so long.”

“It’s very persuasive. I’m sure it’s still there, probably hidden all over again.” She presses her lips to keep from giggling at the thought of IGR agents tearing apart the walls and digging up the floors just to find a book that was probably still safe and sound at her high school.

The hatch slams behind Sana, who reels back into the room with a large bottle of water and a renewed gleam in her eye. “You’re all too quiet,” she booms, then launches solo into whiskey rendition number seven. Brian and Krejjh join right in, Krejjh attempting harmonies that clearly never came from human throats, but Arkady pauses. There’s no knowing whether she believes a word, but she listened, and that-

That’s another thing Violet could never give up now. Arkady launches into song, trying to mimic the baritone part over Krejjh’s giggles, and Violet sits back to tap accompaniment on her glass. Arkady smiles and Violet smiles back, content in a way she never might have known she was missing. They might die tomorrow or get captured and never see each other again, but at least she’s had tonight.

**Author's Note:**

> tscosi week 2021, Day 1, "Violet"


End file.
